race 10
THE WAYNESVILLE MOUNTAINEER
THURSDAY
A Page Devoted to the Interest of
Haywood Coomty ITarmniflirD
Vn. i
COUNTY AGENTS
W. D. SMITH
The following statement from Sec- j
retary Henry A. Wallace should have
the careful thought and study of every
citizen:
"Every spring for many years the
Bureau of Agricultural Economics has
published estimates of farm land val
ues for the different states. The fig
ures are always given in terms of per
centages, with the years immediately
before the World War representing
100. Before I became Secretary of
Agriculture, I made it a specialty
every spring to watch for these land
value releases. I watched Iowa land
values go down from 213 per cent of
pre-war in 1920 to 136 per cen in 1925,
to 98 per cent in lOJil and 80 per cent
in 1932. Within a month or so after
I became secretary of agriculture in
1933, I discovered that Iowa land val
ues were only 58 per cent of what
they had been before the war."
Last Thursday the Bureau of Agri
cultural Economics made iUs regu
lar annual release on farm land val
ues. As usual I picked it up with
great eagerness to see what had hap
pened during the course of the year.
For the United States, as a whole,
farm land values between the spring
of 193G and the spring of 1937 had
increased only three points. They
were 82 per cent of the pre-war in
1936 and 85 per cent in 1937, and these
figures compared with 73 per cent at
the bottom of the depression in early
1933 and 170 at the top of the boom
in early 1920. From the bottom of
the depression to the present time,
farm land values in the United States
seem to have gone up 16 per cent. The
small amount of increase astonishes
many people who are familiar with
the fact that gross farm income is
now nearly twice as great as it was
in 193,'i and net farm income is three
times as great. If farm income doub.
les, why shouldn't farm land double?
Again it is pointed out that indus
trial stocks on the New York Stock
Exchange are about 100 per cent high-
GREATER HAPPINESS
AND SAVINGS FOR
FARM HOMES
with this modern city refrigerator I
LHVI.I. - .
- kerosene ou )
run v -
4nr a few cents a day
Keens food fresh
for days
Frwzos ice cubes
desserts
Saves steps, work,
money
Needs no duily at
tention No water or elec
tricity Hub no machinery
to wear
Happy owners report
that this ideal re
frigerator for farm
homes actually pays
for itself!
u It
er today than in early 1933 and, there
fore, farm land should have increased
100 per cent in value instead of only
16 per cent It is also pointed out
that industrial stocks today are nearly
100 per cent higher than in 1925.
J Why should corporation values soar
( and land value drag?
I can t answer these questions, but
before I comment upon them, I would
like to call attention to the different
sections of the country. During the
past year, for instance, land values
have gone up much more in the east
ern cotton and tobacco sections of the
United States than in the corn and
wheat regions. In 1936 eastern cot
ton and tobacco land averaged about
96 per cent of pre-war, whereas in
1937 it averaged about 103 per cent.
The western corn belt stayed steady
at 71 per cent of pre-war in both
years while the eastern corn' belt ad
vanced four points from 72 per cent
of pre-war to 76 per cent. The west
ern cotton belt like the western corn
belt has not made much advance.
Looking over the entire United States,
I see no evidence of a disastrous spec
ulative land boom getting started ex
cept possibly in some of the tobacco
states.
I hope farm income continues to in
crease, but, if its does, I hope city
people do not drag farmers into a land
boom as they did from 1915 to 1920
Thousands of people have nut finished
paying for that speculative spree. The
advance in land values between 1915
and 1920 caused millions of headaches
between 1920 and 1935. Mortgages
were doubled, expensive school houses
were built and taxes went up to two
and event three times what they were
previously. It is important to remem
ber that higher land values almost
inevitably mean a heavier interest and
tax burden. Of course, I know there
are many old people who like to see
higher land values so that they can
sell out and move to town, to Califor
nia or to Florida.
It seems to me that when farmers
increase it would be well for them to
use the money to improve their living
conditions -to build better homes,
better barns, better physical improve
ments, rather than to bid up the prices
of farm lands in an effort to add to
their land holdings.
It would be a fine thing if all the
farm land in the United States could
be as steady in price as that in New
Jersey and Southern New England.
This land did not go anywhere near
as high in 1920 as the land in the corn,
cotton and wheat belts. But neither
did it go anywhere near as low in
1933, In New Jersey, for example,
farm was only 30 per cent higher than
pre-war in 1920, and in 1933. it was
still 10 per cent higher than pre-war.
Today it is 15 per cent higher. Real
estate boomers were not able to lead
these eastern farmers so badly astray
as they did the farmers of the middle
west. R"twPfn lOOrt an A 14911 man,, fo rvi
ers of the middlewcst got the idea that
the way to make money was out of
the rise in land values. They preached
the idea that there was only so much
good land, that population was rap
idly increasing and that the thing to
do was to buy no matter how high the
price might be.
I hope that land values more and
more will represent capitalized earn
ing power and not speculative pros
pects. Somehow I doubt if it is a
wise thing for most farm land to sell
for more than twenty times net rent
after paying taxes. ... Ih other words,
if cash rent is $5 an acre and taxes
are $1 an acre, I wonder if it is wise
for the land to sell for much more than
$80 an acre. In some cases where the
land is likely to go down rapidly in
fertility, I doubt if it should sell for
this much. In other cases where the
fertility is easily maintained and
where there is an unusually high so
cial value, it may be that farms can
safely sell for 30 times the net rent
instead of only 20 times.
And, of course, you always have to
think of the future. What will be the
net rent of an Iowa farm after paying
taxes in 1940 and 1945? What will
be the net rent of a cotton farm or a
wheat fam? Who can tell what will
be the price for cotton, wheat and
com in 1940 and 1945? Who can tell
about the weather and the European
demand? Who can tell whether or
not we will have functioning at that
time a practical form of the Ever
Normal Granary which will protect
the farmer from price slumps in case
we have several years of unsually good
weather?
Yes, on the whole, I think it is a
good thing that farm land values in
the United States jn the spring of
1937 are only 85 per cent as high as
they were before the World War and
only 16 per cent higher than at the
bottom of the depression in 1933. If
farmers get their fair share of the
national income during the next ten
years, farm land values will and
should advance. But I hope they never
advance beyond a fair relationship
with farm income. Farmers and es
pecially young farmers don't want a
repetition of the 1920 foolishness.
They want stability and security. They
want to go ahead steadily year after
year, feeding and clothing the people I
' aim cuuiiig a iair price
for so doing. They want to make their
money by farming and not by spec
ulating in land. I hope the United
States Department of Agriculture and
the Land Grant Colleges can co-operate
with these young farmers in build
ing for security and that we shall nev
er again be afflicted by the excesses
of a land boom. Fortunately there is
n0 evidence of such a boom at the pres
ent time. Land values are recovering
in a sensible and conservative fashion.
FINES CREEK CLUB BOYS EN
TER CONTESTS
Fines Creek club boys take part
in the district livestock judging and
public speaking contest which will be
held at Swannannoa Test Farm next
Saturday, May 22.
Jack Bramlett and Frank Rathbone
will judge livestock and poultry.
Spencer Walker will speak. The sub
ject of his speech is Agriculture In the
Southern Mountains.
Signed: B. G. O'BRIEN.
Today's Mark,
The following cash pr.Cfl
ing paid Wednesday By'...(
Federation here: 1
Chickens, heavy
Eggs, dozen
Corn, bushel
Wheat, bushel . ..
Read the ads-It pays
-GET YOUR-
A GRI C 0
FERTILIZER
Manufactured Especially For
Tobacco - Corn - Potatoes and All
Other Crops.
From
HYATT AND COMPANY
Waynesville, N. C.
EDWIN FINCHER
Clyde, N. C.
Manufactured Only by
The AMERICAN AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL
COMPANY
Spartanburg, S. C.
MR. THOMAS BALL OF MARSHALL SAYS:
"t hsh1 Arglro on 14 acres of corn anil made nn average of 64.3 h
an aore on stwp. mountain laud. So when time came to plant n;
tobacco. I fertilized Uio wliole crop with Asrrico. 1 don't have ll
tell you I'm pleased with rewuhv the figures' fcpcnk-' for theniselm
After taking out enough for my personal use, my 2.2 acres nvengn
4114 lbn., or tobacco wliich sold for $2303.84 an average of 56c pe
pound. I don't know of anyone in tills locality who u winged t
niucii on uieir crop. .
' (2hl iCS We have the supplies.'
. "T- jn. "'" 'mWt"f"1n- Paint-Up
IF YOU'VE always wanted the
convenience and economy of
modern city refrigeration, here's
good news! Today you can have it
no matter where you live at low
cost, Servel Electrolux, the Kero
Bene Refrigerator, duplicates in all
important respects the famous Gas
Refrigerator which has been the
choice for hundreds of thousands of
fine city homes and apartments
during the past ten years.
This marvelous refrigerator for
homes beyond the power lines as
sures plenty of ice cubes at all times
. . makes possible new dishes and
more interesting meals . . . protects
food perfectly year-round
I' L. I ,
uguieiis uumea worn.
MARTIN ELECTRIC CO.,; Waynesville, N. C
I
I
I
Street or R.F.D-
Town '
Gentlemen: Please aend me, without obli
gation, complete information about Serve)
Electrolux, the Keroaene Refrigerator.
Name
-State.
Martin Electric
Co.
"WE SERVICE ANYTHING WE SELL"
OLIVER
GET A "CLIP-CUT"
And Save Your Horses' Necks
Until you ride the Oliver "Clip
Cut you'll never know what
smooth, quiet mowing: is. It cuts
all crops easier and faster. With
all gears running In oil, and the
"Clip-Cut" bar. cutting easily
through the heaviest crops, the
Oliver mower is much lighter in
draft.';.,',
Hocked By
SERVICE and PARTS
This sulky dump rake is built
for hard usage, and it dumps the
hay the instant pressure is ap
plied to the dump pedal.
FARMERS
FEDERATION
We h&ve just received a large ship
ment of Wheeling Roof ing-bbth S-V
Crimp and Channeldrain. We have in
stock roll roofing and shingles.
Get your roof in A-l condition be
fore summer storms begin.
GARBAGE CANS
A new, tight garbage can will do a
lot to cut down on flies this summer. We
have many sizes made by Wheeling.
Before you buy paint or varnish, let
us show you why so many painters
prefer KURFEE'S.
We have paint and brushes.
Plant-Up
v
We have the toolsfertilizers,
and seeds
Repair
We have the materials
Build Now
S3
. ..:a
We have the lumber and w
ers supplies.
Ill - ; - - - "
I PHONES 43 and 157 AT THE DEP0T
' :: J;-----: waynesville, n. c. v;-'--7i
PHONE 31
CHURCH STREET